A world without religion

I am fully aware of the wishful stretch I am proposing here, but imagine if religion were to go away, either slowly or quickly or if religion had never been conceived in the first place. You hear about the comfort that religion brings people and the straight path it sets the lost on. I am quite sure this void would be filled somehow. There are already the suicide hotline, alcoholics anonymous, family crisis center, women's abuse hotlines, and many other non-profit organizations for the needy. Would this sector be expanded to fill the needs of the people the church doesn't fill? I know that you and I live without a church, but it has been said that religion is for the weak. I know, that is not always the case but what would be there for the weak to receive emotional support? Could the world survive without religion? Lets hash this out!

Replies to This Discussion

As much as I wish it were otherwise, I am not optimistic that religion will ever go away. If it had never been born in the first place that might be different but it is quite firmly rooted now and no amount of logic will prise it away from those who want it.

What would the world be like without religion? It's hard to imagine. There would still be benevolent folks and malicious folks.

First let me say that I think religion is dying. A hundred years from now isn't that far away and I think at the rate that religion is declining, it will be almost dead by then. Second, I don't think we need religion. I don't think religious people are necessarily weak. Religion just came in and sold them a scam. The internet now provides a community that the church used to provide.

Yes, the internet! Good point. This is a great place to find support, like minded people and groups that supply hugs at your demand.

I'm with you on humanity eventually overcoming the God virus. I'm thinking it will be as strange then to believe in God as it is now to believe in magic. Just as we believed in the magic delusion without a shred of evidence of its existence. Humanity will have to be pointed in the direction of not believing in any supernatural processes. It just takes a while as a whole to learn the truth, it is a steady course. Although I don't think it will happen in my lifetime.

I think that if religion were to vanish in a puff of smoke, there would be a big void for secular alternatives to fill. It is built into many religions that it is required by "God" that people care for one another. That is not an essential part of atheism.

That is not to say that secular charity, philanthropy and humanitarianism etc. do not exist, because they do. Helping organisations of those types would have to be expand in size and number, if there were no religious-based ones. I see no reason to doubt that that would happen. As an atheist, I find such ideals as charity, philanthropy and humanitarianism to be noble, and am sure that many atheists would agree with me.

Religions exists, and religious organisations have the infrastructure to carry on these good works. In the real world, it should not be a competition for secular organisations to prove that they can do as well as religious ones. However, if non-believers want religion to wane, they must take up the challenge of caring for their fellow human beings individually and via recognised organisations for such purposes. This would have to be done to a greater degree than in the past, otherwise, we will continue to need their extant religious versions.

I think religion will fade away, and be reborn and fade away again and again. Most things are cyclical and relevant based on the times we live. Religion/gods/life after death has been used throughout our existence for various reasons. My hope is that at some point it becomes marginalized. like throwing salt over your shoulder for luck or other weird superstitions that people cling too.....the reality is that we will probably extinguish ourselves due to religion (climate change deniers-doomsday fanatics or zealots with nuclear capabilities) before that can be a reality....Sigh, I need a cocktail.

Consider the increase in clear thinking that would come with society outgrowing religion. Maybe it's idealistic, but I'd like to think that such a society would foster social awareness. Of course these are separate issues, but I do believe that a less aggressively superstitious society would be more likely to engage with 'the greater good' for itself and its members - i.e. acting supportively, etc.
Again, this is somewhat idealistic, but I imagine that this would more than compensate for the lack of religious communities (which are often in some ways very unhealthy - consider what you give up as well as what you gain through membership). There are many people today (perhaps more than we think - many 'church' links already coincide with family/neighbourhood links, etc.), quite content to live without the support provided by a religious community - the disappearance of such communities certainly wouldn't have a negative effect on them...

do you just want to imagine a world where religion has been suppressed and eradicated, or do you want a world where all history has been rewritten and religion never existed?
either way we can't include ourselves in that world. most of the members of this community seem to be possessed with a morbid fascination for religion. (i do not exclude myself)

I think it depends on how well we survive the century. If we kick global warming while actually seeing the bus that almost killed us go by - then Religion might die. Unfortunately, some will credit prayer.

If we defeat childhood cancer, convert to a sustainable energy economy, build up a global and educated middle class, feed the world with amazing new agri-technology, and spread democratically controlled and effective secular institutions of justice, peacekeeping, governance, and infra-structure development - religion might hold on at a kind of sports fan level.

But, again, the religious are resilient in their ability to credit god for all good and blame evil for all bad. Whoever cracks the one shot cancer cure will, despite their own likely atheism, be seen by many as an 'instrument of god.'

I think it may be rather difficult for religion to disappear from the world completely. In today's time, and within my country (South Africa), religion plays a huge roll in social support. Our country is third world so a lot of the country is without access to basic housing, water, education, etc so the thought of them using the internet as a replacement system just won't work. The churches function as a place to meet people in equally bad situations or one's in better situations that are willing to give a hand to those that attend their churches. It creates a networking system for the one's that need it the most. Also with the "good morals" being preached in the churches, many would want to help. I know that there are many charitable organizations that are created for exactly this purpose, but not all people get any sort of benefit from it. The churches act on more of a personal level, giving them help as well as hope that their situation may turn around if they keep trying. It may be false hope, but it's hope none the less.

In order for religion to fall away completely, I believe the entire world should be first world or close to it at least so that all have some kind of access to the networking we have on the web. There should be many charitable systems, support systems, non-profit organizations, etc that will be able to help anyone in need. There should also be other ways in which to bring people together in the ways churches do - we underestimate the power of physical human contact and close friendships. Education should be top notch so as to prevent people believing anything that they are told rather than using their rationality. This would just be the start of what needs to change in order for religion to disappear. It will be a very slow process indeed.

I think Religion will stay for a loonnnng time, As an atheist I Think the best option is to learn to co-exist with non fundamentals and the only way to do it is to be active in politics. As long as the goverment is linked with religion we will see religion affecting us all. We have to find a way to revert the trend of the christian vote and I strongly suggest that the best option is the libertarian party if not them vote for the most rational people who agree in the philosophy of live and let live.